Spring system for furniture



June 5, 1951 HOLM 2,556,085

SPRING SYSTEM FOR FURNITURE Filed Oct. 22. 1947 INVENTOR. GUNNAR HULM Maw ATTORNEYS Patented June 5, 1951 SPRING SYSTEM FOR FURNITURE Gunner Holm,.Hille vag on Stavanger, Norway; assig nor to Jonas Bull, Roosevelt, N. Y.

Application October 22, 1947, Serial No. 781,287 In Norway November 11, 1946 1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to. improvements in spring systems for furniture such. as over-stuffed furniture, upholstered furniture, automobile seats and the like. seated articles. More. particularly the invention relates to spring systems for upholstery or stuffed furniture. whether or not the cushions and backs of such articles are removable.

One of the oustanding items of expense and labor involved in the: manufacture and repairing of articles of the type referred to above is the matter of installing the conventional coil compression springs. Persons familiar with this art understand the tedious work involvedin providing a webbing for supporting such' compression springs, the sewing of the springs;- to the'webbing and the tying, of thespringstoethe sides of the frame of the articl'eof furniture. The job of tying compression springs is verytediou's because each spring must be tied in four or more directions in order to support itin proper position when in use. a r

The primary object of thepresent invention is the provision of a" spring system for the seats,

backs or-other portions of articles of the type described, which" is not "only comfortable but which is inexpensive and comparatively easy to install.

According to the features of my invention the improved spring system comprises in general a pair of spaced flexible or bendable ribbons or strips of webbing or other fabric attached to opposite sides of the frame of the article on which the system is used, the ribbons having a series of regularly spaced holes extending therealong inwardly from the sides of the frame, and a plurality of spaced helical springs of relatively small diameter having a hook at each end and mounted under tension between the spaced ribbons With the hooks engaging the holes in the respective ribbons.

An important feature of my invention includes the use of helically-shaped springs in which the coils are relatively close together and which may have an outside diameter as small as one-fourth inch. These springs are advantageously provided at each end in a known manner with hooks which include a threaded portion engaged by the end coils or helices, these hooks being particularly adapted to hook into the holes in the ribbons or webbing, such holes being advantageously provided with a metal lining. Such a structure is readily provided by placing metal eyelets in the fabric of the webbing or ribbon in a known manner.

The springs are advantageously mounted laterally across the article-of furniture and the bendable edge portion of the fabric, which extends over the edge of the furniture frame members and to which the springs are hooked. The structure provides a comfortable and resilient seat or back which is durable and which is easy to construct. V

The features of my invention will be described more in detail in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a broken perspective view of a chair constructed in accordance with the features of my invention and illustratingone embodiment thereof.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged broken sectional View taken on the line 2-2 ofFig. 1.

In the drawings, Fig; 1 shows a more or less conventionaltype of winged-back armchair in connection with which the invention is illustrated.

As far as the present invention is concerned, the important features of the chair structure comprise side frame members I!) and a top frame member l2 for the back of the chair, side frame members l4 and a front frame member I 6 for the seat of the chair. The cross frame member at the lower back of the chair is not shown, but is present as in the usual construction. Only one complete side of the chair is shown :in order to simplify the showing.

The spring system structure for the back of the chair includes a strip of bendable material such as a ribbon or Webbing I8 of fabric tacked to each side frame member ID by means of tacks 20. A substantial portion of the ribbon I8 extends over the inner edge of the frame members and is provided with a series of spaced metal eyelets 22. Helical springs 24 each having hooks 25 on each end are mounted between the ribbons I 8 under tension, the hooks of each spring engaging eyelets 22 on the opposite sides of the chair so that a vertical series of substantially parallel springs 24 are provided up the back of the chair. In order to prevent movement of the springs in a direction transversely thereto, due to uneven loading of the springs, one or more ribbons, or fabric strips 28 are mounted between the side frame members i 0, one end being tacked to the top frame member l2 and the other being tacked if desired to the bottom frame member. Each of the springs is sewed to the strip or strips 28 by means of stitches 30 or secured thereto by other suitable attachment means.

The seat of the chair is constructed in a manner similar to that of the back by providing oppositely-mounted fabric strips or ribbons 32 tacked to the side frame members M, the strips 32 including the portions extended over the edges of the framemembers and provided with eyelets into which springs 24 are hooked. As shown in Fig. 1, the strips 32 not only extend along the top of the frame member l4 but also down the front a short distance to the top of the cross frame'member IS.

The spring system for the seat, like that of the back, includes oneor more ribbons 34 between the strips 32 extending transversely of the seat springs 24, the springs being sewed or otherwise secured in the strip 34. The lower end of the strip 34 is'tacked to the front cross member l6, as shown.

Fig. 2 shows the detailed structure of a preferred form of connecting means between the ends of the springs and the strips of flexible material attached to the side frame members. In this view the ends of the springs 24 are shown as engaging a hook 26 having a threaded portion 36 threaded into the end coils of the spring. The ribbon I8 is provided with metal eyelets 22 which are engaged by the hooks so as not to damage the ribbon structure.

The hooking of the springs into the overlapping portion of the flexible ribbons or webbing strips provides a bendable structure which makes the chair or other article of furniture comfortable, since the overlapped portions of the strips bend over the corners or edges of the side frame members to which the strips are attached.

In the illustrated embodiment of the chair shown in Fig. 1, the seat portion of the chair is shown as being covered with upholstery 38 which is placed directly over the springs 24 and strips 32 and'34. The spring system may be used in connection with regular upholstered seated articles of furniture and the like or may be used on such articles which have removable cushions.

From the foregoing description it will be understood that certain modifications may be made in the structure and arrangement of the spring sys tem and that the system may be employed for 4 other parts of the chair or other article than merely the seat and back portions. Such changes are contemplated as coming within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claim.

I claim:

In a seat-like article including a frame having a pair of spaced frame members as a part of the article, an improved spring system mounted on and extending between said frame members, comprising a strip of flexible fabric material extending along and attached'to each member, each strip having an edge portion lapping inwardly of the frame member to Which it is attached, a set of spaced substantially parallel helical tension springs each extending between and attached to the lapping portions of said strips, a hook on each end of each spring engaging in the fabric strips for effecting the attachment of the springs thereto, a strip of flexible fabric material extending substantially transversely across the set of springs and substantially in the direc- REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 7 Date Number Name 995,277 Mueller June 13, 1911 1,768,383 Van Hove June 24, 1930 1,908,902 Knoll May 16, 1933 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date France Mar, 28, 1933 

